A MERSEYSIDE advice service for people who are drowning in debt has been deluged with pleas for help, a report reveals today.

The face-to-face project funded by the Government has received nearly 18,000 inquiries – 11% more than expected – with a "significant increase in demand" nationwide since the recession struck.

Now the National Audit Office has warned that the need for expert help is "outstripping capacity" across the country and urged the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to do more.

A quarter of advice agencies were either refusing new clients or putting them on a waiting list of more than a month, its report said, adding: "In some instances, there is not the capacity to cope."

The NAO did not identify which of 16 regional projects were under most pressure. They were all set up in 2006, following warnings that up to 600,000 debt-ridden families were in danger of going without any help.

In Merseyside, the Government budgeted to help 16,100 people, in the three years to September, 2009 – but the scheme ended up helping around 17,900.

The service is run by the Greater Merseyside Money Advice Partnership, a coalition of 21 agencies – mainly Citizens’ Advice Bureaux – which aimed to employ a network of 28 debt advisers.

The watchdog praised the service provided but it suggested the Government's strategy for helping people battling debt was too complex.